‘Empire’ Season 3 Spoilers: Cookie-Luscious Split Leaves Serious Repercussions; Series Joins ‘The Walking Dead’ as most Tweeted for Latest TV Season

‘Empire’ season 3 is scheduled to premiere in September 2016 and will follow the continuing drama of the Lyon family. Cookie’s decision to leave Luscious for good will reportedly leave serious repercussions. The musical drama is one of the most Tweeted television series for the latest TV season.

According to Hollywood Take, executive producer Ilene Chaiken teased that the upcoming season will pose a huge challenge for the Lyon family. She said, “The family is together, the company is together, and Lucious and Cookie will be in one another’s faces and lives… But her [being finished with Lucious] is going to color everything.” She explained that Cookie’s (Taraji P. Henson) split from Luscious (Terrence Howard) over his marriage to Anika (Grace Gealey) will give rise to new problems.

She added, “Who are the Lyons and how will they continue to define themselves going forward? Can they ever change? Is Lucious the dark lord, pulling them all in the other direction? And really, where does Tariq fit in with all of this?”

Chaiken also revealed that Tariq, who was outed in season 2 as Luscious’ half-brother, will play a key role in the incoming season, according to Unreality TV. She said, “I would venture that if Tariq really is Lucious’ half-brother, there probably isn’t a good one and a bad one.”

Season 3 is also expected to follow through with season 2’s cliffhanger, which ended with a mysterious death following a nasty brawl between Anika and Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday).

The award-winning new series focuses on the drama of the Lyons as they fight for control over Empire Entertainment, a hip-hop and music company. Howard plays Luscious, an ex-drug dealer turned founder and CEO of Empire Entertainment with a sordid past. Henson plays his ex-wife who returns to bring their broken family back together while attempting to reclaim her share in the company. Howard and Henson are joined by Jussie Smollet, Trai Byers, Bryshere Y. Gray, Grace Gealey, Malik Yoba, and Kaitlin Doubleday in the main cast.

According to Mashable, ‘Empire’ dominated social media as one of the most Tweeted television shows for the TV season alongside Robert Kirkman’s zombie series ‘The Walking Dead’ and David Benioff’s fantasy series ‘Game of Thrones’. The latest TV season, running from August 31, 2015 through May 29, 2016, found ‘The Walking Dead’ on the top spot with an average of 435,000 tweets per episode as reported by Nielsen Twitter. ‘Empire’ followed with 387,000 tweets then ‘Game of Thrones’ at 252,000 tweets.

‘Empire’ was renewed for a third season on January 2016. It is scheduled to premiere on Fox in September 2016.